So, along the same lines I was thinking about adding my potatoes and carrots about half way through the total cook time to keep them from getting mushy. I wonder if anyone knows how long small red potatoes take to cook in a slow cooker? 4 hours enough?

On low yes but on high even less. It also depends on how big the potato pieces are that your cooking. The smaller the pieces the less cooking time required. Check them with a fork...if they're fork tender they're done. Basically time and temperature. Boy...I bet the Capster is stewing right about now with all of this slow cooker talk.

If you take one flat trimmed corned beef & slow cook it all night then add Yukon Gold potatoes, carrots, cabbage, sweet Vidalia onion & leeks with some secret country Irish spices thrown in for good measure... then it comes out something like this.

Secret country Irish spices? LOL! You mean salt, and on special occasions pepper, right?

I'm a huge apologist for the cuisines of the British Isles, and but for a few imports for the colonies (mostly in England proper) their spices are about as basic as they get. Which is part of the allure...nothing like good British (or Irish) food for showcasing the natural flavours of good meat and vegetables.

Secret country Irish spices? LOL! You mean salt, and on special occasions pepper, right?

I'm a huge apologist for the cuisines of the British Isles, and but for a few imports for the colonies (mostly in England proper) their spices are about as basic as they get. Which is part of the allure...nothing like good British (or Irish) food for showcasing the natural flavours of good meat and vegetables.

If you take one flat trimmed corned beef & slow cook it all night then add Yukon Gold potatoes, carrots, cabbage, sweet Vidalia onion & leeks with some secret country Irish spices thrown in for good measure... then it comes out something like this.

wait ... is that SPAM?

Seriously, Corned beef does not photograph very well, does it. I mean - pink slap o' meat looks like pink slab o' meat. Mine turned out great through. I added chopped and sauteed onions and garlic in the beginning with the brisket and the corns and added tthe large onions, carrots, shrooms and taters about 3 hours later and they were all cooked perfectly come 6:ish.

Chive infused mashed potatoes. You could use other green veggies instead of chives though (e.g., green onion, parsley, etc.). Basically, the chives were infused into some hot milk for a few hours and then incorporated into the mashed potatoes.